Osteria's roasted tomato soup

3 pounds Roma tomatoes, cut in quarters
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 quart vegetable stock or broth
2 bunches fresh basil, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place tomatoes in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, sugar and salt. Spread out on a large baking sheet and roast in oven for 1 hour. Chop coarsely and set aside.
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are soft, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add stock or broth and roasted tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add cream and cook for 5 more minutes. (For a smoother soup, add an additional 1/4 cup of stock and purée in a food processor.) Remove from heat and add chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.

Cozy Restaurants, Comforting Food

Missy's Cookie bars

2 1/2 Sticks butter

2 C flour

2 C oats

1 1/2 C brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Mix and pour 1/2 of the mixture into a sprayed 9 x 13 in pan. Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Mix 1/2 jar of caramel sauce with 3 TB flour

bag of chocolate chips

Pour caramel over the baked mixture and then sprinkle with chocolate chips then top with the last half of the cookie mixture (crumble mixture).

Bake 18 minutes.

Reagan's key lime pie

1 big tube cool whip
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 C key lime juice
2 graham cracker pie crusts

Mix 1/2 tub cool whip, sweetened condensed milk and key lime juice together and pour into pie crust. Whip other 1/2 of cool whip and place on top if desired.

Refrigerate to set and keep cold.

BBQ Chicken Chop Salad

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup barbeque sauce

Marinate chicken in barbeque sauce, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Chop into pieces and refrigerate.

½ head iceberg lettuce, chopped
½ head Romaine lettuce, chopped
3 to 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 jicama, peeled and diced
½ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
1 can white shoepeg corn, rinsed, drained
½ pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1/2 to 1 can black beans, rinsed, drained


Combine chicken in a large salad bowl with salad ingredients and toss. Serve with ranch dressing, additional barbeque sauce and crispy corn tortilla chips.

Play Dough Recipe

1/4 c. salt
1 1/2 c. water
food coloring
1 1/2 Tbsp. oil
3 tsp. cream of tartar
1 1/2 c. flour

Mix salt and water. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Add oil, coloring, and cream of tartar. Mix. Add the flour. Mixture will be thick and warm. Knead until smooth, you'll need more flour when you knead it. Store in covered container (after it cools). The color doesn't come off and it lasts a long time. Also, it isn't harmful in the kids eat it.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 or 4 lg. chicken breasts or thighs
1 pkg. fresh carrots
1 lg. chopped onion
3 stalks chopped celery
1 pkg. Soup Starter (chicken)
Lawrey's seasoning salt

Boil chicken for about 45 minutes in pot of water. Remove and cook chicken, replace chicken in water.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 2 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Add 1 pkg. Grandma's noodles and cook for 45 min. longer.

*Add seasoning salt when you're cooking the chicken.

Chicken Lo Mein

1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
1/4 c. KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp. chopped Planters cocktail peanuts (I used cashews)
Cook spaghetti in large saucepan as directed on pkg.
Meanwhile, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic; stir-fry 3 min. or until chicken in no longer pink. Add peppers, onions, broth and peanut butter; stir-fry an additional 3 to 4 min. or until chicken is cooked through.
Drain spaghetti; return to pan. Add chicken mixture and soy sauce; mix well. Spoon onto serving plater, sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts.
This is obviously a Kraft recipe. It's really quick and easy to make and really tasty! I changed a few things in the recipe, but it's a beautiful dish with all the colors, I used 3 different colored peppers.